The fortifications of Bucharest consisted of 18 detached
forts with 18 intermediate support batteries. The fortifications were placed
12-13 km
form the residential areas of the town and (including the support batteries) 2 km from each other, that
being the effective range of the rapid firing 57 mm guns; the forts
themselves were placed approximately 4 km to each other. The total perimeter was
around 72 km.
The ring of fortification was build in order to maintain Bucharest outside the range of enemy long
range artillery, to secure a circular, all directions defence and to forbid
the enemy access to the city.

The earlist
studies regarding the defence of Bucharest
dated back to 1866, and were focused on the building of temporary defences
around the town. Upon an initiative of king Carol I, in 1882 a commission leaded
by general Gheorghe Manu submitted a report on Romania’s defences to the War
Ministry, emphasizing that the fortification of the capital should be
regarded as a priority. At first a group of German officers from the Prussian
General Staff was consulted, but later the king turned to the Belgian general
de Brialmont, who at that time was regarded as the greatest authority in the
field of fortifications. In June 1883 he submitted a scheme for the defences
of Bucharest,
and, after its approval, in mid 1884 a special Fortifications Department was
raised under the Ministry of War. The Engineers Regiment, headed by colonel
Anton Brindei, was choosen to carry out the works.

The
construction of the forts began in October 1884, and was officially finished
in 1895, but supplementary works were carried out inside and outside the
fortifications until 1900.
In December 1885 – January 1886 a series of tests
with various types of armoured cupolas were conducted in the Cotroceny
proving ground, near Bucharest,
in the presence of military rapresentatives of many European powers. These
tests caused a gret stir on the military press, and greatly contributed to
the development of armoured weapons and heavy artillery. Nevertheless they
were not conclusive for the Romanian specialists. More decisive were the
tests carried on in 1886
inGermany
and France
with mine shells filled with high explosive, like melinite.

Therefore the
original scheme prepared by general Brialmont was adapted and improved in
order to make the forts able to stand against so powerful shells. The
improvements, introduced by Brialmont himself and by Romanian specialists,
were the substitution of the open emplacements initially planned for some
batteries with armoured cupolas, the diminution of the number of the
artillery pieces, the increase of the thickness of the domes, the replacement
of the old forts in bricks with plain concrete ones. In addition for economy
reasons, many annex buildings (administrative, warehouses) were supressed,
and the the rooms intended for the garrison were cut down from 18 to 10.

In 1888 the
Parliament, after a heated debate, decided to reduce the expenses for the
fortifications of Bucharest
: general Berindei, the head of the Defence Commission, charged to carry on
the works, obtained that the fortifications begun should continue as planned,
but he had to accept that the remaining forts would be replaced with smaller
ones, without redoubts.

In order
facilitate movements and transport of ammunitions and war materiél between
forts and intermediate batteries in 1885-1890 a circular railway
was built within 100 m
behind the forts line, with connection with the Bucharest-Ploesti-Pitesti
(near fort Chitila), Bucharest-Pitesti (near fort Pantelimon) and
Bucharest-Giurgiu railways (near fort Jilava), the Arsenal and the Dudesti
Army Gunpowder Works. To facilitate the access of troops and vehicles to the
fortifications a stragegic 8 m
wide highroad was built 10 m
beyond the railway. It was connected with the capital by means of several
macadam roads. To assure the communications a telegraph or telephone line
connected all the forts. The final cost of the defensive system (including
the infrastructure: roads, railways, telegraph and telephone lines) was
111,542,772 lei - the equivalent of three
yearly budgets of the War Ministry.

The works were
constructed to resist high explosives, and armour has been largely used. The
majority have dry ditches. Their armament consisted of 150mm guns, 210mm
howitzers and 57mm QF guns. The initial plans forecast that part of the
artillery batteries would be placed in uncovered platforms inside the
fortifications, but, after the test carried in 1885-1886 inEurope,
all were mounted in armoured cupolas, the most of the 150mm guns in pairs,
the remainder singly. As a rule, the forts had 3 - 150mm guns, 3/4 howitzers,
and 4/6 quick-firing guns. The intermediate batteries had 1 – 150mm gun, 2 –
210mm howitzers and 2/3 quick-firing guns.

The first 10
armoured cupolas for 210mm howitzers were ordered in 1888 to the German firm
Grusonwerk of Buckau-Magdeburg, along with an oscillating cupola for 2 –
150mm guns, ordered to the French firm St. Chamond. At the same time a
contract with Krupp was signed for the weapons to arm them. In June 1890 the
Defence Commission decided to purchase of two types of rotative cupolas along
with disappearing turrets ans embrasure carriage for close combat and for
covering intervals, ditches and entrances. On 29 July 1891 the Ministry of
War signed contracts with the three different French firms Schneider (14
cupolas for two 150mm guns, 126 turrets and 398 armoured carriages for 57mm
guns), St.Chamond (17 cupolas for one and 10 cupolas for two 150mm guns) and
Chatillon & Commentry (26 cupolas for 210mm howitzers and 10 cupolas for
two 150mm guns).

In 1891 to arm
the works 26 – 210mm howitzers and 80 – 150mm guns were ordered to German
firm Krupp of Essen, while 126 – 57mm, followed by 145 more in 1896, to the
French firm Hotchkiss of St. Denis. The cupolas and the guns were mounted in
1893-1895, but orders of war materials were placed even after that time. For
the mobile artillery of the intervals, emplacements were arranged on
platforms for 60 – 105mm L/35 Krupp heavy guns, and in the depots of the II
Army Corps a lot of old 78.5 Krupp guns M. 1868 were stored, and could be
moved to the fortification line if necessary.

The initial
plan of general Brialmont estimated that the Bucharest Fortress needed a
garrison of 33,000 men. This task was assigned to II Army Corps, that was
quartered in the area of the capital. At first the works was manned by 1st
battalion of the Siege Regiment, that on 1 April 1893 was expanded,
becoming2nd Fortress
regiment (renamed 1st Fortress regiment in 1913, after the
dissolution of the 1st Siege regiment on 1 April 1913) with
headquarters at fort Chitila. In 1905 a specialized engineer unit with
hedquartes in Buchares was raised, the Fortress Engineer battalion, later
renamed Fortress Pioneer battalion, followed in 1908 by an Aerostation
company. The fortifications were commanded by the Governor of Bucharest
Fortress Command, established on 29 April 1895, who was assimilated to an
army corps commander. In August 1916 this position was held by Div.Gen.
Mihail Boteanu.

According with
a Romanian document titled Raport Asupra
Lucrarilor de Fortificatie a Cetatei Bucuresci (Report on the
Fortification Work of the Bucharest Stronghold) dating from 1900 the total
armament of the forts was :

-57mm flanking
guns : in place 114, missing 250 (all the guns in 8 – 16 and two to four guns
in batteries ½, 11/12, 14/15, 18/1).

Total: in place
365, missing 291.

A further
handwritten note dated 12 May 1916 confirmed that no further weapon purchases
took place from the moment the list was drawn up to the disarming of the
forts. So besides being totally outdated by the advances in the field of
artillery (in 1896 the advent of astralite and later cordite as propellants
more than doubled the range, and the introduction of melinite as a high
explosive tripled the power of the shells) the Bukarest stronghold was
lacking around 45% of its weapons.

In August
1914, at the outbreak of the World War, the Belgian fortifications of Antwerp, Liège and Namur,
built according the same principles of the Bucharest fortress, fallen in the hands of
the German Army, being unable to withstand the powerful effect of the new
H.E. shells. On 10 November a report of the governator of the fortress,
Div.Gen. Constantin Herjeu emphasized the critical situation of the Bucharest
fortifications, that lacked not only modern combat matériel, like ballons,
aircrafts, searchlights or a wireless telegraphhy station, but also part of
its artillery. As a result the decision was taken to disarm the fortified
areas of Bucharest
and the line of Sereth.

In 1915 guns
and howitzers were mounted on wheeled carriages made at the Army Arsenal and
the Romanian Railway Works, and used to arm the newly raised heavy artillery
regiments. Part of the equipment of the 1st Fortress Regiment was
sent to strengthen the defences of Cernavoda and Tutrakan. On 15 August 1916,
when Romania
entered the World War, the Bucharest Fortress was armed with only 32 – 210mm
howitzers, 31 – 150mm guns and 111 – 57mm guns.